New Orleans’ Office Market Taking Shape
Gaines Seaman, Sales and Leasing Executive for Stirling Properties, recently contributed an article for Southeast Real Estate Business magazine’s Market Highlight section. The insightful article, entitled “Following Massive Conversions, New Orleans’ Office Market Is Taking Shape,” profiles the bustling office market activity in downtown New Orleans. Check out the excerpt below and click here to read the full article.
“In the past 12 to 18 months, more than 1 million square feet of what used to be considered office space in downtown New Orleans has been converted to retail, hotel, residential or multifamily use. Projects such as 225 Baronne Street, the 1100 block of Tulane Avenue, 600 Carondelet Street, Factor’s Row redevelopment and approximately 130,000 square feet of space at 1250 Poydras Street (a 423,000-square-foot, Class A tower) are just a number of examples. More of this space was unoccupied than occupied at the time of the conversions. The most recent of these conversions, 600 Carondolet Street, resulted in the largest absorption of Class A office space in the market. Additionally, URS, now AECOM, leased approximately 70,000 square feet of space in 1515 Poydras, a 530,000-square-foot building located across from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. In the central business district (CBD), Class A office occupancy is a healthy 90 percent and average rental rates have increased in the past 12 to 24 months to approximately $19 per square foot. Recently, notable longterm commitments to New Orleans include Shell Oil Co. and FM Services (Freeport McMoRan), both through 2026. Shell Oil anchors One Shell Square, the largest office tower in New Orleans, and committed to occupy half of the 1.3 million-square foot building in 2015. FM Services occupies 210,000 square feet of the 510,000-square-foot Freeport McMoRan Building, also on Poydras Street. Ochsner Health System recently finalized a deal to lease the entire Lord & Taylor Building, measuring 115,000 square feet. The building will be retrofitted, against the current trend in the CBD, from former retail space to office space for Ochsner’s occupancy. The term is estimated to commence in late 2016.”
Stirling Properties Announces Most Recent Transactions from our Alabama and Florida Offices
Below is a list of Stirling Properties’ most recent closed transactions by Brokers in our Alabama and Florida offices. For more information on the individual transaction, please contact the Agent associated with that transaction.
ALABAMA
- The Legacy Village Shopping Center in Mobile, Alabama was sold to a group of local investors. The 82,000 square-foot center features tenants such as Talbots, Jos. A. Bank, Zoes and Alabama Outdoors. Nathan Handmacher with Stirling Properties handled the sale.
- The 146,000 square-foot, former Coastal Door and Window Warehouse in Mobile was leased to regional trucking and warehousing company BR Williams Trucking, LLC. Nathan Handmacher with Stirling Properties handled the lease.
- IMC – Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, PC leased 8,259 SF at Airport and Azalea. Nathan Handmacher with Stirling Properties handled the lease.
- Cricket Wireless has leased the former Radio Shack space in front of Walmart in Saraland, Alabama. Andrew Dickman with Stirling Properties handled the lease.
LOUISIANA
- Dirt Cheap has leased 60,000 square-feet at 1000 Roma Avenue in Hammond, Louisiana and plans to open Dirt Cheap and Dirt Cheap Building Supplies. Construction is currently underway and the stores will open around Thanksgiving on 2015. Andrew Dickman of Stirling Properties handled the lease.
Stirling Properties is located in One St. Louis Centre, 1 St. Louis Street, Suite 4100 in Mobile, Alabama and at 220 W. Garden Street, Suite 802 in Pensacola, Florida. For more information regarding our services, please visit us at www.stirlingproperties.com.
Mobile Office Market Survey
John Toomey III, CPM® is a Broker and Mobile New Business Development Coordinator in our Mobile, Alabama, office with over 30 years’ experience in the commercial real estate industry. He recently completed an Office Market Survey of the West Mobile and Mobile CBD markets, with plans to periodically update the survey to track trends and establish absorption rates.
Here’s an excerpt from John’s Market Assessment:
Our office market has seen challenging times the last five years. Some buildings have fared better than others in terms of occupancy. The good news is while the Mobile Office Market vacancy rate has been relatively stagnant, it has recently started to improve. The Downtown Mobile Alliance and the City of Mobile were successful in creating a statewide Historic Tax Credit in October 2013. After going into effect, this tax credit has been instrumental in spurring office redevelopment. Many historic, but vacant, buildings were revitalized using these tax credits and put back into commerce. One such example is the RSA Van Antwerp Building located in the CBD. This roughly 60,000 SF building has taken over 2 years to renovate and will open summer of 2015 with Phelps Dunbar and BBVA Compass Bank occupying most of the building, essentially pre-leasing nearly the entire building before it comes online.
We have seen a fair amount of leasing activity in our office market the last 12 to 18 months. Unfortunately, a lot of space was subleased, which does not have the desired effect on our rental rates and absorption rates. The Trustmark sublease at RSA Trustmark Building is an example. Newly restored buildings like RSA Van Antwerp Building add more inventory to the market. It is a positive step to see these buildings restored, but it remains to be seen how this will affect future rental and absorption rates.
In summary, we expect the office market to see leisurely positive growth in the future.
Please click here to view and download the PDF of the Mobile Office Market Survey. This survey provides a good summary of the Mobile office market and my hope is that it becomes a valuable resource in the market.
Stirling Properties Welcomes Thomas Bryan to the New Orleans Team
Stirling Properties is pleased to announce the addition of Thomas Bryan to the Commercial Brokerage Division as Sales and Leasing Executive. Thomas will work from the company’s New Orleans, LA office located at 615 Baronne Street, Suite 100.
Mr. Bryan began his Commercial Real Estate career in 2007 and has since accrued a wealth of knowledge through leasing, sales and property management experience. He is currently responsible for the marketing and leasing of approximately 350,000 square feet of retail space. In addition to his retail landlord representation, Mr. Bryan has worked extensively with national, regional and local retail clients in a tenant representation capacity, including Lee Nail Spa, Alton Lane, Devon & Blakely, School of Rock, and MetroPCS to name a few.
Mr. Bryan is a native of Richmond, VA where he most recently worked as a Sales & Leasing Associate for CBRE. He is a graduate of the College of Charleston with a degree in Business Administration.
Mr. Bryan can be reached at 504-523-4481 or via email at tbryan@stirlingprop.com.
Stirling Properties Announces Most Recent Transactions in Alabama
Below is a list of Stirling Properties’ most recent closed transactions in the Alabama area. For more information on the individual transaction, please contact the Agent associated with that transaction.
MOBILE, ALABAMA
- The building formerly utilized as El Chico Restaurant, located at 830 I-65 W. Service Road, has been leased to La Cocina Mexican Restaurant. La Cocina plans to open its second Mobile location in the 5,800 square-foot building this fall. Jeff Barnes of Stirling Properties handled the lease.
- Amedisys Home Health of Mobile has recently relocated and expanded their offices at Mobile Office Park. They are now located in Suite 204 in Building 2, and occupy over 5,200 square-feet. Jill Meeks of Stirling Properties handled the relocation and expansion.
Stirling Properties is located in One St. Louis Centre, 1 St. Louis Street, Suite 4100 in Mobile. For more information regarding our services, please visit us at www.stirlingproperties.com.
Stirling Properties’ Angela McArthur Secures Two Locations for Five Guys Burgers and Fries
Earlier this month Angela McArthur, Broker Associate with Stirling Properties, closed on two locations for Five Guys Burgers and Fries in Florida.
Downtown Pensacola will be enjoying Five Guys this fall at 440 E Chase St next to Newk’s Eatery, who just recently redeveloped a former Wintzell’s. The second restaurant will be located at 4796 Highway 90, Suite 3, Pace, Florida and will open in the spring. The building is being developed by Trademark Properties of Pensacola and will break ground in the coming weeks.
For more information regarding these transactions contact Angela McArthur at 251-375-2481 or amcarthur@stirlingprop.com.
